#10 – Baron Humbert von Gikkingen (The Cat Returns)

BFF: The Cat Returns is a Studio Ghibli animation that’s all about cats –
Professor Snowypaws: We prefer our proper name, Felis Catus.
BFF: Oh we’re sorry. Really? You really prefer that?
Professor Snowypaws: Yes.
BFF: OK. Well, this film is about a young girl who saves a cat –
Professor Snowypaws: Felis Catus.
BFF: A Felis Catus from being run over, only it turns out the Felis Catus is the Prince of Cat Kingdom and the girl then has to marry him. It’s a bit weird.
Professor Snowypaws: Curious, you might say.
BFF: Anyway, Baron Humbert von Gikkingen is a figurine of a Felis Catus that comes to life. He’s a cool customer! He also features in another Studio Ghibli animation, Whisper of the Heart.

#9 – Mr Tinkles (Cats and Dogs)

BFF: Cats and Dogs is a film in which the cats and dogs of the world wage war on one another. Mr Tinkles is the head of the cats and he’s pretty hilarious.
Professor Snowypaws: *laughs*
BFF: What?
Professor Snowypaws: You humans know nothing about feline politics.
BFF: What?
Professor Snowypaws: Oh, you’ll see. You’ll see.

#8 – Sassy (Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey)

BFF: We’re all familiar with Homeward Bound. It’s a film about a cat and two dogs who –
Professor Snowypaws: Ugh.
BFF: Excuse me?
Professor Snowypaws: Nothing. What? I was clearing my throat.
BFF: Do you have a problem with dogs?
Professor Snowypaws: No. Do you?
BFF: No, we love dogs.
Professor Snowypaws: I see.
BFF: It’s about a cat and two dogs who are separated from their owners and find their way back to them, travelling for miles and miles. Sassy, the cat, was memorable for being, well, pretty goddamn sassy.
Professor Snowypaws: *mutters something about dogs*

#7 – Salem (Sabrina the Teenage Witch)

BFF: It’s everybody’s favourite sarcastic talking cat!
Professor Snowypaws: What?
BFF: Apart from you, of course.
Professor Snowypaws: *purrs*
BFF: Salem is the beloved pet of Sabrina –
Professor Snowypaws: That was a television show. My humans used to watch it. I enjoyed Melissa Joan Hart’s performance, but found that it indulged in predictable tropes, conventional storylines and two-dimensional characterisation.
BFF: Well Sabrina was a film first, actually. In which Sabrina discovers she is a witch and has to work out how to use her magic and be a regular teenager. The film gave way to the popular TV series. And Salem was in both as a man who had been turned into a cat. He was always cranky and funny.
Professor Snowypaws: I can be funny.

#6 – Professor McGonagall (Harry Potter)

BFF: We all know Professor McGonagall from the Harry Potter series has the ability to change into a cat. Unfortunately, we didn’t see it happen much in the films, but when we did it looked great. McGonagall was one of our favourite characters and she made a great cat. Do you agree?
Professor Snowypaws: *licks self*
BFF: Could you stop licking yourself, please?
Professor Snowypaws: *licks self* What?
BFF: Never mind.

#5 – Puss in Boots (Shrek 2)

BFF: Hurrah! It’s Puss in Boots! The best thing Antonio Banderas has ever done.
Professor Snowypaws: I enjoyed Take the Lead.
BFF: Really?
Professor Snowypaws: Yes, but go on.
BFF: Anyway, we first met Puss in the second Shrek film. He was hired to kill Shrek but ended up befriending the lovable ogre and his best pal, Donkey. Audiences everywhere loved Puss – so much so that a film centred solely on Puss is coming out this Friday.
Professor Snowypaws: Roger Ebert called Take the Lead a “heartening fable”.

#4 – Toulouse (The AristoCats)

BFF: Well we were going to go with the film’s lovable hero, Thomas O’Malley – a street cat who meets and falls for the elegant Duchess – but we decided to go for Duchess’s mischievous son Toulouse instead. In the film, Duchess and her kittens Toulouse, Berlioz and Marie are thrown out by their owner’s evil butler. Thomas O’Malley rescues them and takes them home, but Toulouse is always misbehaving. It’s very cute. Professor, have you ever thought of having kittens?
Professor Snowypaws: I’m concentrating on my career at the moment.

#3 – Selina Kyle (Batman Returns)

BFF: Technically, this one isn’t an actual cat, but we thought Selina Kyle was such an important –
Professor Snowypaws: That’s a human.
BFF: We know, but she has catlike qualities. In the second Batman film by Tim Burton, Selina Kyle is pushed off a building and then licked back to life by a load of cats. Then when she wakes up she’s crazy and becomes Catwoman, one of Batman’s most famous nemeses.
Professor Snowypaws: The science behind that concept is utterly nonsensical.

#2 – Jake (The Cat From Outer Space)

BFF: This film from 1978 is about a cat from outer space, unsurprisingly. It has a collar that helps it speak to humans. How come you don’t need one of those, Professor?
Professor Snowypaws: I was educated at Yale.
BFF: In what, licking yourself?
Professor Snowypaws: *hiss*

#1 – Mr Bigglesworth (Austin Powers)

BFF: So we come to the end of our list. And our winner is Mr Bigglesworth, the furry (and subsequently furless) best friend of Dr Evil in the Austin Powers series. We reckon he deserves the top spot because he lost all his hair AND went into space AND travelled through time. What do you think about that, Professor?
Professor Snowypaws: The science surrounding time travel is still highly speculative.
BFF: But still it must give you paws for thought?
Professor Snowypaws:…
BFF: Doesn’t it give you a funny feline?
Professor Snowypaws: Stop that.
BFF: If we could travel in time, it would be just purrfect – AGH! You bit us!
Professor Snowypaws: That’s all for today, class.

So have we remembered all the important film felines? If not, make sure to comment below!